The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method and an information processing system, and a distribution medium, or more in particular to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method and an information processing system, and a distribution medium for securing bus resources positively by the reserve operation using a timer of electronic equipment.
A standard is laid down for the IEEE1394 serial bus capable of connecting a plurality of satellite broadcast receivers (Integrated Receiver/Decoders: IRDs), VTRs (Video Tape Recorders), video-camera integrated digital VTRs, HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) for recording video and audio signals, MD (Mini Disk: trade name) decks, PCs (Personal Computers) or the like electronic equipment (hereinafter referred to as the equipment). In the case where a reserved operation is executed using a timer by two of the equipment connected to the particular bus, the data transmission may result. A case in point is that a signal of an independent voice of BS11 channel is received by the IRD, transmitted to and recorded in the MD deck during the period from 4:15 to 5:45, Apr. 24, 1998. The IRD and the MD deck acquire the band and the channel for the isochronous communication of IEEE1394 immediately before execution of the reserve operation. The IRD and the MD deck transmit data using the band and channel of the isochronous communication thus acquired.
The band and channel for isochronous communication of the IEEE1394 serial bus is finite resources on the bus, and only a predetermined number or less of bands and channels can be used at the same time.
If the user operates other equipment connected to the bus and thereby uses the band of IEEE1394 isochronous communication in a wider band or uses all the channels of IEEE1394 isochronous communication as a reserve operation, the MD deck may fail to record.
Also, in the case where the reservation time of the operation accompanied by the data transmission of two different equipment are overlapped with each other, the data transmission may fail if the operating band or channel for the particular data transmission are insufficient.
The problem is posed, therefore, that due to the failure to acquire the bus resources such as when the operating band or channel for data transmission are insufficient, the reserve operation accompanied by the data transmission of a plurality of equipment may fail.
The present invention has been developed in view of this situation, and the object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method and an information processing system and a distribution medium capable of acquiring bus resources positively and assuring accurate reserve operation even when accompanied by data transmission.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus connected to a bus for acquiring the resources on the bus, comprising reserve operation setting input means for inputting a reserve operation setting for setting a predetermined other information processing apparatus in a predetermined state at a predetermined time, reserve operation storage means for storing the information on the reserve operation setting input from said reserve operation setting input means, and bus resources reservation means for reserving said resources on said bus required for said reserve operation based on the information on the reserve operation input to said reserve operation setting input means. With this information processing apparatus, the bus resources are reserved, and therefore the data transmission can be executed positively.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus of the first aspect, in which the reservation processing for said resources on said bus by said bus resources reservation means is for securing said resources on said bus when the reserve operation is set by said reserve operation setting input means. With this information processing apparatus, the resources on the bus are secured at the time of a reserve operation and therefore the reservation processing can be positively executed using the secured resources.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus of the second aspect, in which in the case where the reserve operation is set by said reserve operation setting input means and said resources cannot be secured, said bus resources reservation means repetitively performs the processing for securing said resources on said bus during the period before the reservation start time designated by the setting of said reserve operation setting input means. With this information processing apparatus, even in the case where the resources on the bus cannot be secured at the time point of the reserve operation, the resources on the bus can be secured by the subsequent processing.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus of the first aspect, in which the resources reservation processing on said bus by said bus resources reservation means is for securing said resources on said bus at a predetermined time before the reservation start time designated by the setting by said reserve operation setting input means. With this information processing apparatus, the resources on the bus are secured and the reservation processing using the secured resources is executed positively by the processing before the reservation start time after a reserve operation.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus of the fourth aspect, in which said predetermined time is a timing a predetermined time before said reservation start time. With this information processing apparatus, superior resources for the reserve operation can be secured by setting the timing of securing the resources on the bus appropriately while a comparatively small proportion of the resources on the bus is occupied.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus of the first aspect, further comprising reserve operation execution means for setting another predetermined information processing apparatus connected to said bus in a predetermined state at a predetermined time based on the information stored in said reserve operation storage means. With this information processing apparatus, another information processing apparatus can be controlled based on the reserve operation, so that the data can be transmitted using the secured resources and the information processing due to the data transmission can be controlled in satisfactory manner.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus of the first aspect, in which said bus resources reservation means releases the resources after the lapse of a reservation end time stored in said reserve operation storage means. With this information processing apparatus, upon the arrival of the reservation end time, the resources on the bus are released and can be used for the processes other than the reserve operation.
According to an eighth aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus of the first aspect, in which said bus resources reservation means includes bus resources reservation information storage means for producing information for reserving said resources on said bus during a period from a predetermined first time from a predetermine second time based on the reserve operation setting input by said reserve operation setting input means, and storing the information for reserving said resources on said bus of said bus resources reservation means. With this information processing apparatus, the resources are reserved for each time zone, and therefore the bus can be utilized effectively while executing the data transmission positively.
According to a ninth aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus of the eighth aspect, in which said bus resources reservation information storage means includes a band and channel reservation means for reserving the band of said bus and a channel specifying said band for conducting the isochronous communication for each time zone during the period from a predetermined first time to a predetermined second time, and reservation schedule storage means for storing the units and the date of said time zone of said band and channel reservation means. With this information processing apparatus, the resources for data transmission by the isochronous communication can be reserved on the bus satisfactorily.
According to a tenth aspect of the invention, there is provided an information processing method for acquiring the resources on the bus connected to a plurality of equipment, comprising the reserve operation setting input step of inputting the setting of a reserve operation for setting a predetermined equipment connected to said bus in a predetermined state at a predetermined time, the reserve operation storage step of storing the information on the setting of the reserve operation input in said reserve operation setting input step, and the bus resources reservation step of reserving said resources on said bus required for said reserve operation based on the information on the reserve operation input in said reserve operation setting input step. With this information processing method, the bus resources are reserved in advance, and therefore the data transmission can be executed accurately.
According to an 11th aspect of the invention, there is provided an information processing method of the tenth aspect, in which the processing for reserving said resources on said bus in said bus resources reservation step is for securing said resources on said bus immediately after the reserve operation in said reserve operation setting input step. With this information processing method, the resources on the bus are secured at the time point of the reserve operation and the reserve processing using the secured resources can be positively executed.
According to a 12th aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing method of the 11th aspect, in which in the case where said resources cannot be secured immediately after the reserve operation in said reserve operation setting input step, said bus resources reservation step repeatedly performs the processing for securing said resources on said bus until said resources are secured before the reservation start time designated by said reserve operation setting input step. With this information processing method, even in the case where the resources on the bus cannot be secured at the time point of the reserve operation, the resources on the bus can be secured by the subsequent processing.
According to a 13th aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing method of the tenth aspect, in which the processing for reserving the resources on said bus in said bus resources reservation step is for securing said resources on said bus at a predetermined time during the period from the setting in said reserve operation setting input step to the reservation start time designated by said setting. With this information processing method, the resources on the bus are secured by the processing after the reserve operation before the reservation start time, so that the reservation processing can be accurately executed using the resources thus secured.
According to a 14th aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing method of the 13th aspect, in which said predetermined time is a timing a predetermined time before said reservation start time. With this information processing method, by appropriately setting the timing for securing the resources on the bus, superior resources for the reserve operation can be secured with a comparatively small proportion of the resources occupied on the bus.
According to a 15th aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing method of the tenth aspect, further comprising the reserve operation execution step of setting a predetermined equipment connected to the bus in a predetermined state at a predetermined time based on the information stored in said reserve operation storage step. With this information processing method, it is possible to control the connected equipment based on the reserve operation so that the data can be transmitted using the secured resources and the information processing attributable to the particular data transmission can be controlled in satisfactory manner.
According to a 16th aspect of the invention, there is provided the information processing method of the tenth aspect, in which said bus resources reservation step is for releasing the resources upon the lapse of the reservation end time stored in said reserve operation storage step. With this information processing method, the resources on the bus are released and become available for use in the processing other than the reserve operation upon the lapse of the reservation end time.
According to a 17th aspect of the invention, there is provided a medium for providing a computer-readable program for causing the information processing apparatus connected to a bus for acquiring the resources on said bus to execute the process including the reserve operation setting input step of inputting the setting of the reserve operation for setting a predetermined other information processing apparatus in a predetermined state at a predetermined time, the reserve operation storage step of storing the information on the setting of the reserve operation input in said reserve operation setting input step, and the bus resources reservation step for reserving said resources on said bus required for said reserve operation based on the reserve operation information input in said reserve operation setting input step. With this distribution medium, the bus resources are reserved in advance, and therefore, a medium is obtained by which a program can be provided for executing the reservation processing capable of executing the data transmission accurately.
According to an 18th aspect of the invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus connected to a bus for managing the resources on said bus, comprising band and channel reservation means for reserving the band of said bus and the channel specifying said band for each time zone and reservation schedule storage means for storing the unit and date of said time zone of said band channel reservation means. With this information processing apparatus, the resources are reserved for each time zone, and therefore the bus can be effectively utilized while executing the data transmission accurately.
According to a 19th aspect of the invention, there is provided an information processing method for managing the resources on a bus connected to a plurality of equipment, comprising the band and channel reservation step of reserving the band of said bus and the channel specifying said band for each time zone and the reservation schedule storage step of storing the unit and the date of said time zone in said band and channel reservation step. With this information processing method, the resources are reserved for each time zone and therefore the bus can be effectively utilized while executing the data transmission accurately.
According to a 20th aspect of the invention, there is provided a medium for providing a computer-readable program for causing the information processing apparatus managing the resources on said bus to execute the process including the band and channel reservation step of reserving the band of said bus and the channel specifying said band for each time zone, and the reservation schedule storage step for storing the unit and date of said time zone in said band channel reservation step. With this distribution medium, a program is provided by which the resources are reserved for each time zone, so that the bus can be utilized effectively while at the same time executing the data transmission accurately.
According to a 21st aspect of the invention, there is provided an information processing system comprising a first information processing apparatus and a second information processing apparatus connected to a bus, in which said first information processing apparatus includes reserve operation setting input means for inputting the setting of the reserve operation for setting the apparatus in a predetermined state at a predetermined time, and reserve operation storage means for storing the information on the reserve operation input by said reserve operation setting input means and outputting the information on the reserve operation in response to the request from said second information processing apparatus, and said second information processing apparatus includes bus resources reservation means for reserving the resources on said bus required for the reserve operation of said first information processing apparatus based on the information of said reserve operation supplied from said first information processing apparatus. With this information processing system, the second information processing apparatus reserves the bus resources, and therefore the first information processing apparatus can execute the data transmission accurately.